


The Young and the Gullible

by Aly208



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Everything That Can Go Wrong Will Go Wrong, Humor, M/M, Male Slash, Poor Thrust, Pranks, Romance, Sexual Content, Sexual Harassment, Swearing, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-05-20
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aly208/pseuds/Aly208
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Thrust asks Skywarp about how to court seekers, Skywarp decides to give him horribly bad advice as a prank. The best part about it? Thrust uses this information on Starscream...aka Skywarp's little brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title: The Young and the Gullible (or otherwise known as, Never Ask Skywarp for Advice) 
> 
> A/N: My first Transformers fic! Shall we see if I can pull it off?
> 
> Units of Time:
> 
> Astrosecond - Cybertronian second
> 
> Klik - Cybertronian minute
> 
> Joor - Cybertronian hour
> 
> Cycle - Cybertronian day
> 
> Decacycle - Cybertronian week
> 
> Orn - Cybertronian month
> 
> Vorn - Cybertronian year

Thrust was lonely.

And why, pray tell, was he so lonely?

Well, he was tired of waking up next to no one in his berth. He was tired of just merely glancing over and seeing Dirge and Ramjet snuggle each other, warm and cozy in their berth. He was tired of feeling the pangs of jealousy and jaundice after watching his trinemates cuddle.

Simply put, Thrust was sick of being alone.

He wanted someone to gently [tease](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9067699/1/The-Young-and-the-Gullible) and poke fun at, but then immediately make it up to him by engaging in 'adult activities.' He wanted someone to passionately embrace and tenderly caress when he needed comfort and affection. He wanted someone to flaunt and boast about in front of his envious friends and comrades.

But Thrust didn't have Someone. He had No One.

And Thrust really, really,  _really_ wanted Someone. This, of course, meant that he would have to find Someone.

But the problem was, who would be his Someone?

Thrust would prefer it if he had a jet as his Someone, simply because it would be easier for him and his lover that way. However, that limited his choice drastically, leaving only five others. But then, Dirge and Ramjet were obviously out of the question, seeing as they were bondmates, which limited his choice to three others. Thundercracker would be a good Someone, most likely caring and protective, but the way he was quiet and skeptical most of the time wasn't appealing to someone as loud and boisterous as Thrust. On the other servo, Skywarp was facetious and rather easygoing. But Thrust could never view him as a Someone, only as a drinking buddy and a friend. Therefore, that left only one option…

Starscream.

Honestly, when Thrust really thought about it, Starscream was the perfect Someone. He was young – still in his prime time and most likely very fertile – clever, strong-willed, one of the quickest seekers around if not  _the_  quickest, and he had gorgeous facial plates and a stunning frame, particularly his pert aft, which far too many enjoyed ogling.

Granted, he was rather egotistical, opinionated, feisty, a bit of a coward, and had a terribly screechy voice, but no one was perfect and, most importantly, Thrust wasn't complaining. Starscream could hop into his berth any time he wished to, and Thrust  _definitely_ wouldn't grumble about it ( _Although many mechs wouldn't_ , Thrust thought acidly).

So, now that Thrust decided who his Someone should be, it should be time to court him, right?

…Except that Thrust had absolutely  _no idea_ how to court seekers. His creators had, unfortunately, died while he was old enough to live by himself, but young enough that he didn't know much about the courting ritual. 

Thrust frowned and scratched at his helm. Slag. What now?

For a few moments, he simply pondered, thinking of all the possible solutions and contingencies. Soon after, he snapped his helm up and smirked, a brilliant idea already formed in his processor.

He knew _exactly_   what to do now.

He'll ask Skywarp for seeker courtship advice!

One may be asking him or herself, why was he going to ask Skywarp, the most ebullient – yet somehow also the most shiftless – seeker?

Well, Thrust really didn't want to ask Thundercracker. He was a suspicious mech, and would  _probably_  assume he would be going after one of his brothers (only Thrust knew that Ramjet and Dirge were secretly bonded). Therefore, Thundercracker would become incredibly wary and never let him have alone time with Starscream  _or_  Skywarp. Thrust also didn't want to ask his trinemates. They would just pester him about who he fancied, and try to lecture him about 'being careful' and 'to always use protection' and other incredibly embarrassing, frivolous things. Starscream was out of the question, of course, and Skywarp was really the only seeker left. Besides, who better to ask than your future brother-in-law?

With that in mind, Thrust strolled out of his quarters, his chassis proudly pushed forward as he smirked, and began zealously looking for Skywarp.

* * *

Skywarp was having one awesome cycle.

He had already pranked two mechs today (ha, Rumble and Frenzy never saw it coming!), teased Starscream to the point where he ran out of the room in frustration (without even seriously maiming Skywarp!),  _and_ he managed to smuggle a cube of high grade when no one was looking.

Life was good.

Currently, he was sipping said smuggled high grade, attempting to make it last, in his quarters by himself, since Starscream (always such a drama queen!) had stormed out and Thundercracker had left to calm him down.

However, his peace was interrupted when a knock at the door startled him, causing him to spill quite a bit of energon on himself.

Skywarp muttered low curses and hurriedly tried to wipe the drink off with a rag he found nearby. "Gimme a klik!" he yelled, just the tiniest bit of irritation creeping into his voice.

After making sure that all of the evidence on him was disposed of, he opened the door to see whoever was disturbing him. He stared confusedly when he noticed a red seeker standing outside of his room. He then grinned pleasantly.

"Hey, Thrust! What do you need?" Skywarp greeted enthusiastically.

"Hey, Skywarp, I need to talk to you," Thrust began firmly, trying to peer inside the room to see if anyone else was there. Skywarp defensively shifted to block his view. Thrust paused at the movement and slightly hesitated when he said, "…Can we chat inside your quarters?"

Skywarp warily stared at him for an astrosecond, but then suddenly relaxed and eagerly stepped aside to let Thrust in.

"Sure! What do you need to talk about, my fellow jet?" he asked rather exuberantly.

Thrust merely looked down at the ground, not saying anything. When he finally looked up and opened his mouth, he faltered and narrowed his optics when he saw Skywarp's berth.

"Is that high grade?" he asked suspiciously, beginning to make his way over to said high grade.

"Uh, no!" Skywarp lied. He warped over to the side of his berth before Thrust could take another step, and downed the rest of the energon in one gulp. His vocalizer let out a series of suspicious, hiccup-like sounds immediately afterwards. Thrust shot him a dirty look, to which Skywarp sheepishly grinned.

Then, after a few moments of what could only be described as an awkward silence, Skywarp shifted on his peds and said, "So…whaddya want?"

"Oh, um…" Thrust began, nervously wringing his servos. He berated himself in his thoughts for being so weak and stupid, and immediately said in a bolder tone, "Listen, if I tell you this, do you swear to Primus not to taunt me or tell this to anybody else?"

"Whoa, this is serious if you're making me swear to Primus," Skywarp idly commented, hopping onto his berth and lazily spreading himself out on it. "Okay, fine, I swear to Primus. Now, tell me about this little secret of yours."

Thrust didn't appreciate how unconcerned Skywarp was about all of this, but he knew that it was just a part of his personality. He sighed and then said, "…I need help...on how to court seekers."

Skywarp instantly burst out laughing, but then stopped and stared dumbfounded at Thrust when he was shot a disapproving, angered glare.

"Wait, you were being serious?" he asked confusedly, staring at the other jet as if he was an intricate puzzle he had to solve.

"Yes!" Thrust snipped, offended. His lip components twisted in an ugly frown. "And don't ask me who it's about or why I don't know about courting," he snapped, having noticed Skywarp's puzzled look and opened mouth.

Skywarp closed his mouth and smirked, carefully hiding the wicked gleam in his optics. He stood up from his berth and walked over to Thrust, resting an arm over his tense shoulders. "Don't worry, Thrust, you're dirty little secret is safe with me! Now, what do you wanna know?"

 _Poor Thrust_ , Skywarp thought gleefully.  _He has no idea how badly I'm going to screw this up for him. Heh, I feel bad for whoever he likes. It's probably Ramjet or Dirge – those poor suckers._

"Well, um, for starters, how should you ask him – or her – on a date?" asked Thrust unsurely, his tone suddenly feeble and insecure for such a loud mech.

Skywarp's smirk grew larger. This was going to be  _fun_.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I'm ready for anything!"

"...I don't know, mech." Skywarp sighed, pursing his lip components into a thin line. "What I'm about to tell you is kinda intense. This stuff ain't for the weak. You have to be really, really,  _really_ dedicated and want this. And I don't think you can handle it."

Thrust shot Skywarp a greatly offended, furious look. "What the slag! You  _just_  said you'd tell me, you liar!" he whined, glaring at Skywarp and shaking his fist at him.

"I know." Skywarp's face crumpled and he winced, like it was physically paining him to say this. "But now I'm starting to have doubts... Besides, you probably ain't gonna believe what I have to say, anyway. It'll probably sound really outrageous and crazy to you."

Thrust shook his head like there was no tomorrow. "No, no! I swear to Primus, I'll believe everything you say! I won't doubt you or anything. I'm  _completely_ ready and determined - this is something I really need."

Skywarp narrowed his optics slightly and lolled his head from side to side, pretending like he was deep in thought. "Hmm...fine," he eventually said, throwing up his arms dramatically in defeat. "But you can't tell  _anyone_ what I'm about to tell you. It's supposed to be kept secret from outsiders, especially ground-pounders," he added threateningly.

Thrust nodded, his optics wide and excited. "I won't tell a soul! Out of all the Decepticons,  _I'm_  the best at keeping secrets! You won't hear a word from me!" he boasted.

"That's what we gotta work on first," said Skywarp, and when Thrust shot him a puzzled look, he continued, "Your bragging, I mean. It's pretty slagging annoying sometimes. We don't like others who brag too much about themselves. We do take pride in ourselves, but it's just plain irritating to hear a mech go on and on about himself."

Thrust was silent for a long time. Skywarp almost laughed at him.

"...Fine," Thrust reluctantly replied, frowning while he uncomfortably shifted his weight on his peds. "I won't brag as much, I guess."

"Good. Now, what do you think about the color pink?" Skywarp had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep himself from bursting out laughing at the utter bewilderment on Thrust's face.

" _What_?"

"You heard me."

"Err...It's a sissy color," Thrust responded hesitantly.

Skywarp shook his head, sighing exasperatedly. "I was afraid of that answer. I guess I'll get to that part later, then."

The horror on Thrust's face was far too hilarious for one singular mech to contain. Skywarp was  _so_  close to laughing and breaking his solemn façade. He bit his trembling lip once more, stifling his giggles.

"Okay, listen up," he said once he could control himself, "I'm only going to tell you all of this once, so you  _better_ freaking pay attention, all right?" demanded Skywarp, pointing an accusing digit directly in front of Thrust's face.

Thrust nodded, his optics wide with honesty.

Skywarp lowered his digit. He grinned innocently, yet the malicious, wicked gleam in his optics contradicted it.

"Welcome to How to Win a Seeker's Spark 101."

* * *

Starscream was in an awful mood.

He woke up this morning to immediately find himself as Skywarp's harassment object of the cycle. His trinemate had pestered him to no relief, seemingly never ending to lose an opportunity to insult, taunt, and tease him. Thundercracker had tried to slow down Skywarp's myriad of verbal abuse, but he could only do so much. It had even escalated up to the point where Starscream had stomped out of the room, nearly in tears of utter frustration and vexation, with Thundercracker racing after him in order to calm him down.

"Just calm down, Star," Thundercracker had gently soothed. "You and I both know that Warp can get seriously annoying like this. We grew up with him, so you shouldn't be storming out when he gets like this, okay? Just stay calm and don't let him get to you, like me. It's why he doesn't pick on me often."

Even now, joors later, Starscream still mocked what Thundercracker had said. Why didn't Thundercracker just ever tell Skywarp to shut the frag up and stop randomly picking cycles where he chose a victim to taunt the whole cycle? Noooo, instead TC had to tell  _him_  to be  _calm._ Did he even know how Starscream worked?

Primus, his older brothers were such – such…ugh! Starscream had no idea what to call those churlish, ungrateful, aft-headed, sons of glitches –

"Starscream," Megatron said sharply, "I recommend that you stop muttering to yourself and get back to work before I come over there and  _make_ you!"

Starscream tensed and seriously considered shooting the old slagger with his null-ray, but forced himself to remain quiet. If he did anything detrimental to Megatron now, his cycle would be even  _worse_  than it already was now.

"Yes, Megatron," he said tensely, through gritted dentae. He slowly released his clenched servo in the death grip he'd unknowingly put it in.

Stupid monitor duty. Why did he have to be assigned to do such an asinine job when he was Second in Command of the entire Decepticon army? Clearly, Megatron was an incompetent fool if he forced such tedious work on a mech of his caliber, which was exactly why  _Starscream_  should be the leader!

"Good, Starscream," Megatron said patronizingly, coming over to stand behind Starscream. He placed a languid servo on his seeker's wing, caressing it in an unnervingly tender way – acting like his lover, in fact. Starscream shivered under the sheer pretense. Then, suddenly, Megatron's grip on the wing tightened cruelly. "Maybe if you listened to me more like this, you wouldn't be the laughing stock of the Decepticons  _and_ Autobots!"

Starscream once again tensed, as well as cringed at the pain in his wing, but willed his fierce ire down. The most sensitive part of his body was in Megatron's servos. If he did anything foolish now, his precious wings would receive the repercussions.

"I'm impressed, Starscream," Megatron said with stark honesty, staring down at his Second with his helm curiously tilted to the side. "I can't believe you haven't shot at me yet, or even sneered and insulted me. Whatever medication you're taking to act this way, take more of it."

The Decepticon Lord's servo released its oppressing grip on Starscream's wing, instead curling around it once more in a faux comforting manner. Megatron then leaned in unnervingly close, brushing Starscream's audio receptors with his lip components. Starscream shivered.

"I think this submissiveness is very becoming on you. You should stop by my quarters tonight so I can help you perfect it even further," Megatron whispered, his smooth tone drenched with perverse insinuation.

Just as Starscream stared at Megatron with horror in his red optics, his slack jaw meeting the ground, he caught sight of Megatron's genuinely amused mien. Enraged at being treated like an uncouth whore in order to entertain a lewd, senile slagger, Starscream was just about to raise his arm and punch that senile slagger's stupid, smug face –

"Excuse me, Lord Megatron, but I cannot reach my station," interrupted Thrust confidently, his every word dripping with smoothness and genteelness.

Megatron and Starscream turned to look at him, the former's expression now suddenly apathetic and bored at the loss of a perfectly fine opportunity to perturb his Second, and the latter's countenance puzzled at the sophistication of Thrust's tone.

_What happened to that loud-mouthed fool from before?_   wondered Starscream confusedly.

A bit reluctantly, Megatron freed his tri-colored seeker and exited the room without a word. Starscream sighed in relief and sank back into his chair carefully, mindful of his recently harassed wings.

Thrust walked over and sat down next to Starscream, appearing to be very interested in his screens to watch over. At first, Starscream had barely paid Thrust any attention, instead staring dully at his own screens. But then the chair next to him scooted closer, creating a harsh, grating sound due to the friction of the floor.

Starscream seethed. Maybe if he ignored it, it would go away.

The chair stupidly ventured further, even closer. Starscream clenched his servos into tight, balled up fists.

Abruptly, the chair stopped moving. Starscream pointedly focused on the monitors in front of him, not daring to look to his left.

Then, the chair started back in motion. The grating sound returned.

Starscream whipped around faster than the speed of light, his wings trembling in aggravation. "What the  _slag_  do you want, you idiotic braggart?" he snapped.

"I-I – I mean – uh..." Thrust faltered and stumbled all over his words, as clumsy as a seeker youngling's first attempt at flying.

Starscream sneered at him, tapping his digits on the desk impatiently. "I'm afraid I do not speak Moron. I suppose I could get Skywarp to come translate for me, however," he mocked, his tone lathered with contempt.

Finally, Thrust seemed to regain his voice. "What I meant to say was that I didn't want anything," he said obliquely. After a few moments of Starscream staring at him disbelievingly, however, he quickly added, "I was just moving my chair to get closer to the screens."

"So, in order for you to get closer to the screens, you started moving toward me," deadpanned Starscream, crossing his arms over his cockpit. "Why do you insist on lying to me, Thrust? Do you think I won't notice? Quite frankly, it's insulting to be thought of as so idiotic by my own subordinates."

Thrust paused for about a moment, so still that Starscream actually thought for an astrosecond that he had accidentally shot him with his null-ray. Then, Thrust sprang back into life, shrugging his shoulders and sighing.

"Okay, okay, you caught me. You see, Air Commander, I think I'm automatically attracted to things that radiate and shine with absolute beauty. So, please excuse me for it, since I'll be doing a lot of it in the future towards you."

Starscream stared at him, his optics wide with bewilderment and his mouth slightly agape. "Excuse me?" he squeaked, his screechy voice even higher than normal.

Thrust leaned in close – so close that Starscream was considering leaving his pride behind and backing away from Thrust. His slight smile, which bordered on a smirk, was a bit unnerving for Starscream to see so up close and personal. His optics were dark with desire, like the color of this planet's sun in the morning, which - now that he thought about it - created beautiful hues and tints of yellow in the free sky that were absolutely stunning and soothing to see while flying–

Starscream gasped at the sensation that swept through his form. Sickeningly sweet warmth settled in his tanks, dispelling his previous puzzlement, and instead creating a wondrous, cordial feeling - one of which he hadn't been familiar with for a long time. In fact, he could barely even identify it.

And all of this occurred before Thrust even responded to him.

Devastatingly ashamed and abashed by this fact, Starscream was just about to rush out of the room, unable to handle the embarrassment of a subordinate making him feel such strange emotions. However, Thrust placed a gentle servo on his shoulder, as if he knew how Starscream felt like running from him, and that made him still. The only thing he could do was to stare into Thrust's sun-like optics in complete awe.

"I think you're absolutely stunning – precious, in fact," Thrust finally spoke, focusing meaningfully and genuinely into Starscream's astonished optics. His rough voice was softer, more tender than usual.

Starscream's mouth hung open, completely flabbergasted. His optics flickered all over Thrust's face, trying to detect a crack in his sincerity.

There was none.

"I-I-" was all Starscream managed to squeeze out in his shock.

A subordinate was  _flirting_ with him? Thrust, the mech he always thought was a bragging idiot, was flirting with  _him_? Well, it wasn't as if Starscream opposed to being flirted with (some of the time, of course). In fact, it was…strangely flattering. The last time a subordinate had flirted with him was such an outrageously long time ago; Starscream blamed it on both his intimidating rank and his strange brothers.

Besides, not only that, but it had literally been  _vorns_ since he was merely complimented, much less flirted with. He assumed that none of the Decepticons liked him (not that he liked many of them either – most were utterly despicable and made Starscream cringe in repulsion), so it came as a bit overwhelming to suddenly be lauded, especially by one of the least likely candidates.

As Starscream began calming down from his state of bewilderment, he realized how Thrust was still merely a few astroinches from his face, how he was staring stupidly at said smirking flier, and how much of a complete slagging  _moron_ he was acting like.

Starscream immediately shoved Thrust away from him, in a manner rougher than he originally meant to, and averted his optics to the ground.

"Ignore that shameful, ridiculous display of mine earlier. I have been contracting a bit of a virus lately," said Starscream coolly, although the nervous twitching of his wings protested otherwise.

"I don't think it was shameful at all. Actually, it was pretty cute." Thrust gave him a grin, and the fuzzy, warm feeling returned to Starscream and hit him at full force.

However, it didn't last for long. The feeling slightly evaporated, yet still lingering, swirling in his tanks, when Starscream realized just what Thrust had called him.

"Cute? You're calling your Air Commander, the Second in Command of the Decepticon army,  _cute_?" he questioned hotly, scowling.

"It's reassuring to see someone as perfect as you, Air Commander Starscream, falter over words, especially since you're fantastic at giving speeches," Thrust explained smoothly.

Thrust was too good at this. Starscream had to give him some points for that. But  _cute_? That was such a horrible, disgusting word to describe him by! Starscream was never cute. Never.

"Flattery will get you nowhere," snapped Starscream, although he was living proof otherwise. He tried to push down the warmth in his tanks as he turned back to the monitors, inwardly thanking Primus that Megatron was not in the room.

"To be honest, Air Commander, I think it already has," said Thrust quietly, and he turned back to the other screens.

Starscream scowled. Thrust did  _not_ just say that to him.

"Says the mech who can't think," Starscream bit back rudely.

"Says the mech who's so alluring that I can't even think around him," responded Thrust, turning his head to Starscream to let one optic flicker off and then back on.

Starscream froze and simply stared at him for a good few moments. Silently, he turned back to the monitors, his facial plates betraying nothing as his spark whirled rapidly inside of his chassis.

The warmth might or might not have returned.


	3. Chapter 3

There was no doubt about it. Starscream glanced warily at the red seeker staring fixedly at him from the other side of the room. Thrust was stalking him.

Thrust was  _everywhere_. He was in the command center, sincere compliments and flirtatious comments flying off his glossa with a hard to copy ease and smoothness. Next, he was in the hallway, his optics raking Starscream's figure and his wing gently brushing against Starscream's leg as he passed by. Then, he was in the mess hall, staring longingly at him from the other side of the slagging room.

Wherever Starscream went, Thrust was already there, waiting. And if he already wasn't there, guess who would show up in the next klik?

That's right. Thrust.

It didn't matter whether Starscream had decided to take a spontaneous little break from his work or even purposely messed with his schedule. Thrust was still. Slagging. There.

And the worst part of it was that Starscream had absolutely  _no idea_ how Thrust did it! It infuriated him more than anything he had ever been through. He hated, hated,  _hated_  not knowing something, especially when it came into regards about his personal safety and work schedule. Primus damn it, how he wanted to know so badly...!

"Uh, Starscream?" Thundercracker asked confusedly, raising an optical ridge as he poked his seething brother on the arm. "Why is Thrust looking at you like that?"

Starscream turned back around, subduing his anger. He remained quiet as he thought of an appropriate response; he couldn't just exactly say that Thrust was flirting and stalking him everywhere. Thundercracker would probably blow a fuse.

"I don't know," Starscream finally decided to say, swirling the energon in the cube he held in an attempt to appear casual. He glanced back at Thrust, who, of course, continued his staring.

Starscream fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, but then forced himself to lean back confidently. "He's a moron," he sneered.

Thundercracker hummed in agreement, narrowing his optics at Thrust suspiciously. "The way he's looking at you is a combination of a lovesick fool and a predator. And I don't like it one bit," he growled, standing up from the table.

"Sit your aft back down, Thundercracker," snapped Starscream, irritation rising again. "Not only can I protect myself, but causing a scene would be utterly ridiculous. Who are you – Skywarp?"

Grumbling to himself, Thundercracker reluctantly sat back down. "You know, Skywarp isn't as bad as you make him out to be," he pointed out, shooting Starscream a knowing look.

Starscream scowled. "Easy for you to say. Half of the things he does to me he doesn't do to you."

"Hey, that's because I don't get half as riled up as y– oh, what the slag!" suddenly burst out Thundercracker, his optics flickering angrily towards a particular someone in the room.

Starscream frowned at his brother's uncharacteristic anger before whipping his head around. Thrust's expression had warped from an innocent lovesick one to a fiercely lecherous one. He ogled Starscream's form and wriggled his optical ridge suggestively. His sun-like optics were so heated that Starscream felt like he was going to melt away.

Having the sudden urge to cover up his body, Starscream stiffly turned back to Thundercracker. He ignored the twitching of his wings and pointedly refused to look in Thrust's direction.

"Why does he keep looking at you like that?" demanded Thundercracker, switching between glaring daggers at the stealth jet and staring confusedly at Starscream.

Starscream sneered. "I think that's pretty obvious," he replied harshly, subtly shivering as he felt Thrust's heavy gaze still on him. The way he was being stared at made him feel like a prey being hunted by a predator. And Starscream did  _not_ enjoy being the prey.

"I'm going to kill him," growled Thundercracker, motioning to stand up from the table again. "Not only did he not slagging bother to court you, but he didn't even ask for fragging permission from your family! That inconsiderate bas-"

"Thundercracker!" Starscream exclaimed sharply. He shot the other a dirty look. "I can and will protect  _myself,_ so don't you even dare!"

Thundercracker looked at the smaller seeker incredulously. "B-But he's not following Vosian tradition and conduct! He's practically saying you're not worth being courted, Star, and that's a giant offense. Even Skywarp would have wanted his head on a platter!" he exclaimed, his red optics wide.

"In case you haven't noticed, this filthy mud-ball that's called a planet is not Vos!" shot back Starscream, slamming his fists on the table in exasperation. "And I will not-"

He froze mid-sentence, feeling a sudden rush of cold liquid soaking his thighs. Starscream glanced down and gaped stupidly as the last few drops of his whole energon ration of the cycle dripped off the table and onto himself.

He  _really_ shouldn't have hit the table.

"Slag!" hissed Starscream furiously, staring down at his lap. What the frag was he supposed to do now?

Before Starscream could even stand up, a cloth was thrust directly in his face. Starscream looked up at the bot attached to that cloth.

"Hey, this might help you," said Thrust coolly, as suave and charming as he had been the past few cycles. His yellow optics were warmer than energon goodies left in the sun.

Starscream gaped up at him.

"...As much as I enjoy seeing you wet and your thighs covered with fluids, you should probably take this," Thrust said smoothly,  _far_ too smoothly, winking as he let a sly smirk spread across his lips.

Starscream's optics went wide, his jaw snapping to the floor, as he stared up at Thrust in utter bewilderment. He was so stupefied that he didn't even notice that his own brother had short-circuited and was currently passed out on the floor. When Starscream finally did manage to snap out of his shock, however, a dark blush blossomed over his fervent cheek plates, and warmth once again settled back in his tanks.

Thrust's smirk grew even wider.

Starscream felt the sudden urge to kill him.

Averting his gaze and muttering to himself petulantly, harsh threats and promises already on the tip of his glossa, Starscream snatched the cloth out of Thrust's servos. He began drying himself furiously, not even bothering to issue a gratitude of thanks.

When Starscream was finished, he frowned deeply, as he couldn't wipe off the dried, sticky energon still stuck stubbornly on his thighs. He then lifted his head up to throw the rag on the table, but something else was thrust into his face. Again.

"What's this?" Starscream asked, suspicion locked firmly in place in his tone, as he glanced up at Thrust warily.

"An energon cube," simply replied Thrust, smiling crookedly, as he extended the cube further. "It's for you."

Starscream stared up at him, looking like he was just slapped in the face. Any warmth that had been left in his tanks shriveled up and died inside.

"For  _me_?" he asked.

"Yes."

" _Why_?" inquired Starscream acidly. Flattery and flirtations – heck, even stalking – were one thing, but generosity was a completely different substance. Flirting meant a one night stand, maybe even two, but generosity...that was not something to be tampered with. Not unless it was meant seriously and genuinely.

Thrust's smile slightly wavered. He glanced around uneasily. "Because you spilled the rest of your ration, so you'll starve the rest of the cycle...?"

"Is that a question or an answer?" bit back Starscream.

Thrust's optics widened, and it was his turn to look like he was just slapped in the face.

"A-An answer," he stuttered.

Starscream's optics narrowed. "Where did you get that cube from?" he questioned sharply.

"It's from my own ration," Thrust answered, sticking out his chassis proudly.

"Fool," hissed Starscream, optics now tiny slits of red fury. He smacked the energon cube out of Thrust's servos, letting it fall and spill all over the floor. "Don't toy with me!"

The look of bafflement on Thrust's face would've been amusing had Starscream not been so infuriated.

"W-What are you talking about...?" Thrust questioned, glancing down sadly at his empty energon cube and then back at the seeker.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" Starscream exclaimed hotly. "The stupid flirting I can take, but  _this_? You being kind to me? I was not born yesterday, Thrust. I can see that this is just some kind of prank, a sick joke, in order for you to see me infatuated with you so that you can point and laugh at me! 'Look at that idiotic seeker! How stupid can he be to let his feelings just take over like that?' NO! I WON'T fall for it! I REFUSE!" he shrieked hysterically.

Starscream jumped out of his seat, sending a startled Thrust back flying, and promptly ran out of the room.

He harshly wiped at his optics as he continued sprinting. He would rather die than let himself fall victim to Thrust's cruel, stupid prank.

* * *

Thrust didn't know what he did wrong.

All he had done was offer Starscream his cube when the other had spilled his own. What was so horrible about that?

Thrust scratched his head. He couldn't think of a plausible explanation for that, so he came up with the next best thing.

It was time to visit Skywarp for another lesson again.


	4. Chapter 4

"Skywarp!" Thrust called out, pounding rapidly and impatiently on the door. "Skyyyywarp!"

The door slid open to [reveal](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9067699/4/The-Young-and-the-Gullible) a very disgruntled, malcontented-looking Skywarp, who crossed his arms over his cockpit and scowled moodily at Thrust.

"What the  _frag_  do you want?" Skywarp barked, wings hiked up high on his back, and a sinking, ominous feeling immediately swept through Thrust. He knew it. Starscream had been through here. Slag, slag,  _slag_! Thrust turned slightly, tensing, prepared to run at any sign of his imminent death. At least he wouldn't go down without a fight.

"I was trying to take a nap before my patrol shift, and now you're bothering me!" Skywarp whined sulkily, shooting the other venomous glares.

Thrust let out a relieved sigh. Oh, thank Primus.

"Something happened," mumbled Thrust, averting his gaze to the ground in sudden embarrassment. How was he going to explain something so strange? "About the courting, I mean. Something went wrong..."

_It was amazing how quickly Skywarp's mood could change_ , Thrust noted curiously, tilting his helm slightly, as he watched Skywarp's irritation suddenly subside.

"Well, [step](http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9067699/4/The-Young-and-the-Gullible) right in! I suppose I've got some time to spare, then," Skywarp said rather airily, stepping out of the way to let Thrust in. He shot the other a cheerful grin accompanied with gleaming optics.

Thrust tried hard not to think about why Skywarp was so happy that his advice went wrong.

Nonetheless, the red jet nodded and shuffled into the room, nervously wringing his servos. He just stood there awkwardly, fidgeting, as he waited for Skywarp to fully close and lock the door.

"I don't know what I did wrong!" suddenly burst out Thrust, unable to contain himself. "I was trying my hardest to be really nice to him, and you know that ain't my thing. So, one klik, he was being all cute and flustered, but then the next he went crazy on me! He said something about me trying to pull a prank on him or something!"

Skywarp abruptly froze. He narrowed his flashing optics distrustfully at Thrust, taking a few intimidating steps forward.

"What are you trying to say?" he demanded, animosity seeping through his tone like blood out of a fresh wound.

Thrust's mouth hung open. Had everyone gone crazy while his back had been turned?

"I-I'm saying that he thought I was going to trick him, but I wasn't! I was just trying to be helpful, but he blew up on me!" he explained defensively.

Skywarp deflated instantly. "Oh," he said, and his belligerent attitude disappeared, suddenly transforming into a much more complacent mood. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, remaining quiet for a few kliks.

"...Well, he might have trust issues," finally hypothesized Skywarp.

"Trust issues?" Thrust repeated dumbly. He stared at Skywarp with uncertainty and confusion written all over his face. "What do you mean?"

Skywarp nodded slowly, wisely. "Let me give you an example to better demonstrate. You know Starscream, my brother, right? Duh, of course you do. Well, once upon a time, he had this major crush on this one mech. I'm not gonna say who, 'cause I'm not that evil to Screamer, even though he thinks otherwise. Anyways, Starscream was really obvious. You could tell from a megamile away that he was harboring a  _major_ crush. And that meant that his crush could tell. Unfortunately, his crush was the biggest motherslaggin' bastard to ever exist, 'cause he used Star's infatuation with him in order to bully and prank him. So, Star is really wary around others now, especially those who try to be especially nice to him. Those are trust issues."

Thrust froze.

Skywarp simply watched him, waiting for the mech to unfreeze. However, when two kliks went by and Thrust just stood there, completely unmoving and his intakes not even making a sound, Skywarp's simple watching turned into a perplexed stare. He waved his servo directly in front of Thrust's face.

"Hello?" asked Skywarp, waving his servo even more rapidly when didn't even receive a flinch as a response. "Anybody home?"

Thrust abruptly snapped his helm up, optics staring but unfocused and unseeing. Nevertheless, Skywarp let out a little sigh of relief that he didn't know he was holding.

"Hey, what was that all abou-" began Skywarp, but he cut himself off when Thrust suddenly tried to bolt out of the room.

Tried, of course, was the key word. In his haste, Thrust had forgotten that Skywarp had locked the door from outside  _and_ inside. Which meant that Thrust just rammed his head into an incredibly hard, very solid, motionless object.

Thrust stumbled backwards on unsteady peds, his servos latching onto his agonized, dizzy head. It wasn't surprising when he felt his back and, consequently, his head slam to the floor. He let out a pained groan as he laid there, body suddenly too heavy to move. A silhouette of a winged figure hovered over him.

_Starscream_ _?_ was his last thought before blacking out.

* * *

Starscream stormed down the hall, servos clenched to his sides, his fierce optics boring holes into the floor, and his wings high and rigid on his back. Everyone who happened to be strolling down the hallway that cycle immediately turned around and ran at the sight of him. But Starscream was too wrapped up in his thoughts to even notice it.

_Thrust, Thrust, Thrust,_ was all he thought about. His processor couldn't stop thinking about Thrust for one astrosecond!

Oh, and how Starscream  _hated_ Thrust. That stupid, conniving, exasperating, dumb, idiotic, cruel son of a glitch! How  _dare_ he attempt to make a fool out of him, Starscream, the Second in Command of the Decepticons? Just the mere thought of doing something so audacious would've made other mechs rightfully run for the hills!

Stupid Thrust. Why the frag couldn't he be like the other mechs? No, instead he had to be himself, which meant stupidity galore.

Starscream muttered to himself furiously, optics still glaring at the floor as if it was all the ground's fault, which was exactly why he accidentally slammed into another mech.

The force of the unexpected hit made Starscream stagger back into the wall. He hissed at the pain in his wings and ran a gentle, protective servo over them, his touch as light as air. Then, he scowled. There was only once mech who was so big that he could send Starscream reeling into the wall.

Megatron.

That was it; that was the last piece of evidence to prove it. Starscream was, without a doubt, completely and totally cursed.

"What do you want, Megatron?" Starscream snarled dangerously, pushing himself up from the floor, as he glared at the behemoth of a mech next to him. He dusted himself off slowly, although it was more for show than anything else.

" _You_ ran into  _me_ , you little brat," snapped Megatron, red optics flashing. There was a light dent marring his shoulder from the contact, but he made no move to tend to it.

Starscream's optics narrowed into tiny slits. "Don't you even dare try to argue with me! I am in no mood for games."

Megatron let out a growl, opening his mouth to bite back a reply, but his optics suddenly trailed lower. He stared hypnotically, his mouth shutting with an audible click. He was silent for a considerable length of time before quietly, in a too calm tone, he said, "Just what is that on your thighs."

It wasn't a question.

Starscream glared at him distrustfully and shifted away from Megatron, his side instead facing the Decepticon Lord.

"It's none of your business," Starscream retorted defensively, olfactory sensor high in the air.

"It  _is_ my business," Megatron said through gritted dentae.

"I don't see how it is at all," stubbornly retaliated the seeker, resting his servos on his hips snobbily.

"Starscream!" Megatron roared without warning, and Starscream accidentally let out a flinch. "Answer the slagging question!"

Starscream was quiet for a few moments before a wicked thought came into mind. He carefully hid back the smirk that was dying to come out.

Payback time.

He moved his servos from his hips to his cockpit, hugging himself pathetically. He let out sniff and averted his gaze to the ground shyly. "...W-Well, you see," he began, sniffling again, "it was all Thrust's fault. I-I didn't want it, but he just kept pushing me and..." his lip component wobbled, and he glanced up at a shell-shocked Megatron, long enough for the other to see his unshed tears. "I just didn't want it! I never did, but he-he-!" Starscream let out a choked sob, covering his face with his servos.

Megatron stood there in silence for a few moments. Then, he snarled loudly in complete and utter abhorrence. A servo trembling in rage rested lightly on top of Starscream's shoulder vent.

Starscream smirked into his servos.

"Thrust will be dealt with accordingly," Megatron tried to say in an even tone of voice, but Starscream could hear the wrath bubbling behind it, barely constrained. "Such repulsive actions will  _never_  be tolerated within the Decepticons. He will sincerely regret ever laying a servo on you."

Starscream nodded, slowly removing his servos from his face. He wiped his optics as he did so and let out a shaky sigh. "T-Thank you, my leader," he said passionately, hoping fervently that it wasn't overkill. "If only there were more mechs like you around..."

Megatron's servo suddenly stopped shaking. He then removed it from the seeker's shoulder vent. Starscream almost trembled in fear, mentally berating himself for being too dramatic and uncharacteristic, but then the servo returned. Megatron instead cupped Starscream's cheek plate, his touch almost gentle.

"He  _will_ pay," Megatron said determinedly, leaning down to stare into Starscream's still wet optics. Starscream nodded, twitching slightly at the servo planted on his cheek. His spark thumped uncomfortably in his chassis.

Thankfully, Megatron released him a few moments later and left, muttering something that suspiciously sounded like, 'Thrust'll be  _much_ more than sorry after I'm through with him.'

Starscream stared at Megatron's tense, retreating back.

A sly smirk slid across his lip components.

Thrust won't  _ever_  mess with him again.


	5. Chapter 5

Thundercracker awoke with a groan.

"Where am I?" he mumbled confusedly, gingerly rubbing his aching head with a gentle servo. He lifted his upper body up, frowning as he noticed that he was sitting on the floor, and looked around the desolate room. "What the slag...?" he muttered, frowning even deeper.

As he continued glancing around the room in perplexity, a spilled cube of energon captured his attention. Suddenly, a flood of memories rushed back, nearly drowning him in their haste.

Thundercracker bristled at the recollections. Thrust didn't think his brother was worthy of being courted? Thought that his brother was just some common whore that could be wooed with stupid, lascivious flirting? Oh, how he was  _so_ going to enjoy strangling that stupid jet.

And speaking of Thrust and Starscream... Thundercracker looked up, the room still as empty as it was a few kliks ago. Where were they? Why had they just left him passed out on the floor? What had happened after he short-circuited?

_Apparently, nothing good,_ Thundercracker thought as he frowned and eyed another spilled energon cube. Had they gotten into an argument? Knowing Starscream, that had probably been exactly what happened.

Thundercracker sighed and stood up, lightly dusting himself off, before coolly walking out of the room. He turned down another few corridors, until he finally spotted the door to his quarters. Maybe Starscream was there. Skywarp, though, would definitely be there; he had been taking a nap earlier.

Entering the door code, the blue seeker calmly walked into his room.

And then immediately froze and gaped at the sight before him.

"What the slag?" he thundered, turning to glare fiercely at Skywarp. "What's Thrust doing here? And why is he passed out on the floor?" he demanded.

Skywarp cocked an optical ridge and held up his servos. "Whoa, what's gotten into you, TC? It's just Thrust. Oh, and he kinda ran into the door." He snorted, flopping back down on his berth casually. "What an idiot!"

Thundercracker moved in, purposely stepping on Thrust's servo, which elicited a small moan from the red seeker.

"I don't want him in here, Warp! Have you  _seen_  what he's been doing lately?" he exclaimed.

Skywarp giggled, his red optics gleaming maliciously. "I know! Isn't it great?" he asked, smirking.

"NO!" boomed Thundercracker, optics wide and furious. Was there a glitch in his brother's processor? "What is  _wrong_ with you? Why would you think that's great?"

"'Cause it's hilarious to watch Thrust frag everything up," Skywarp answered without missing a beat, completely unperturbed by Thundercracker's sudden, uncharacteristic burst of anger.

"This is not funny, Skywarp," Thundercracker chastised sternly, lip components pressed down in a seemingly permanent grimace. "Not funny at all."

Skywarp rolled his optics, waving a servo in the air dismissively. " _Any_ situation can be funny. You just have to look at it the right way."  _  
_

Thundercracker scowled, but before he could respond, a pained groan sounded from behind him. He turned around to see Thrust sitting upright and carefully cradling his head in one servo.

"Ugh..." moaned Thrust, yellow optics slowly turning back on. "Why does my head hurt? Why is one of my servos dented?"

"You ran into the door, you idiot," Skywarp replied helpfully, sporting a cheerful, giddy grin.

Thrust groaned again. "I remember everything now..." he said, and then his optics grew wide with panic - or something like that; Thundercracker wasn't exactly sure. Thrust scrambled to his peds and tried to open the door, but when that failed, he let out a frustrated grunt and started banging on it frantically.

Thundercracker ran up to him and shoved him rather callously away. "What in the pit are you doing?" he demanded.

"Need to do something!" shouted Thrust, desperately trying to claw his way past the other seeker.

Thundercracker's optics narrowed. "And just what exactly do you need to do?" he inquired suspiciously.

"Something important!"

"And  _what_  is tha-"

"Well, this is fun and all," interrupted Skywarp, yawning as he stood up, "but I have to go do my patrol shift right now. Toodle-oo!" he exclaimed, waving a servo ecstatically, and then he vanished.

Thundercracker sighed, pinching the bridge of his olfactory sensor. "I'm starting to see why Starscream is so irritated with him all the time," he muttered. Then, he looked back at Thrust and glared. "Speaking of Starscream, how dare you treat him like that! Shame on you! Were you raised in a barn?"

Thrust gave him a confused look. "What?" he asked, but then shook his head. "Never mind. Look, Thundercracker, I don't have time for this. I have to do something  _really_ impor-"

"Does it have to do with Starscream?" burst out Thundercracker, red optics narrowing yet again.

Thrust remained silent and looked down.

Thundercracker balled his servos up and scowled. He took a few menacing steps forward, and Thrust fearfully began backing up, holding his servos up for protection.

Thundercracker brought his fist up and hissed, "You per-"

An abrupt, loud banging on the door interrupted him. Both seekers turned to look at the door, then looked at each other, confusion blossoming on their faces.

"Who's there?" Thundercracker called out warily. Reluctantly, he took a few steps away from Thrust, who slumped against the wall and let out a sigh of relief.

"Megatron. Do you know where Thrust is?" the voice, the owner now identified as Megatron, said through gritted dentae.

_There's an underlying hint of anger in his tone,_  Thundercracker noted observantly,  _Maybe Thrust did something to frag off Megatron. Heh, I hope so._

The blue seeker raised an optical ridge as he glanced down distastefully at Thrust, who promptly frowned and shrugged his shoulders, looking even more nervous and perplexed than before.

"He's in here, Lord Megatron," responded Thundercracker, with absolutely no guilt in his tone. He smirked wryly at Thrust's slightly alarmed expression as he entered the door code.

Megatron stiffly walked in, his servos clenched furiously at his sides, and an ominous, frightening expression marring his face that promised death to any who disturbed him.

However, that was no comparison to what he looked like when he laid optics on Thrust.

Thrust yelped as a fusion cannon was swung directly in front of his face. He stared up at Megatron with utter horror written in his wide optics, his mouth agape and his body trembling violently.

"How  _dare_ you," Megatron spat out, a furious fire burning in his red optics. His fusion cannon slightly shook under his barely restrained rage. "How slagging  _dare_ you do that to  _my_ seeker!" he hissed dangerously, murderously.

Thundercracker quirked an optical ridge and thought,  _Seeker? Who's he talk-?_  He paused, his optics widening to the size of Cybertron in sudden realization.  _Oh, Primus!_ _He's talking about Starscream, isn't he? What the slag?_   _Does everyone want a piece of my brother now? Who_ else  _should I be on the look out for?_ _  
_

"H-Huh?" shakily said Thrust. His frightened optics never let up off the fusion cannon still aimed at his face.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, you sick bastard," snarled Megatron, kicking Thrust's legs and therefore knocking him down to the floor. He harshly stomped on the seeker's already damaged servo, and Thrust let out a pained groan. Megatron continued, his voice raised to a shout, "Why did you do it? Why did you  _rape_ Starscream?"

Thundercracker staggered back at the revelation, like he was socked in the face. Oh, my Primus. That was why the room had been a mess when he woke up! That was why Starscream was nowhere to be seen! Thrust - h-he had...! A-And Thundercracker had been passed out on the floor there...!

A vivid image suddenly haunted Thundercracker. He imagined Starscream desperately calling out his designation - to please, please,  _please,_ wake up and help him, Thundercracker! But all he did was lay there on the floor, completely unmoving, still passed out and doing absolutely _nothing_  to help his hurt brother...

Something inside Thundercracker snapped with a loud, sparkbreaking crack.

"YOU RAPED MY BABY BROTHER?" he bellowed at Thrust, engines thundering like a lion's roar, and his wings hiked up dangerously high in the air. A highly deadly, toxic poison burned within his optics, clouding and darkening them with his almighty rage.

Thrust flinched at the volcanic eruption as if he was lashed with a whip. "N-NO!" he responded vehemently, vigorously shaking his head, yellow optics wide with sincerity.

"Then, why was there evidence of the act?" hissed Megatron furiously, shoving his fusion cannon so close that it was not even an astroinch away from Thrust's cheek.

Thundercracker let out a growl, and his poisonous optics glowered fiercely, teeming with something beyond hatred, at Thrust. He took a few intimidating steps forward.

"B-But there  _is_  no evidence, because it never happened!" yelled Thrust, such sincere honesty gleaming in his optics that it made Thundercracker pause just for an astrosecond. "I would  _never_ do that to anyone, especially not Starscream!"

"Do you think I am blind or just stupid, Thrust? I SAW the evidence! You have already been proven guilty!" Megatron snapped hotly, dentae clenched. "And as retribution for raping your superior officer, you will be locked in the brig for an orn. You will only be let out for missions, and nothing else. And after your time in the brig is over, I will most definitely ensure that you are kept as  _far_ away from Starscream as possible. Do I make myself clear?"

"B-But I-I didn't do it!" stammered Thrust, clasping his servos together and raising them pleadingly at Megatron. "It never happened - at least not with me! Please, please don't send me to the brig!  _Please_!" he beseeched noisily.

Megatron sneered. "Vile coward," he insulted, before roughly taking Thrust's clamped servos in one servo. He began dragging him.

Thundercracker quickly entered the door code, and watched with malice gleaming in his optics as Megatron hauled a kicking, fervently protesting Thrust out of the room.

"I'm innocent! I swear, I'm innocent!" were the last words Thundercracker heard before the door slid closed.

* * *

Starscream strolled out of the wash racks, quietly humming an old military tune.

He felt absolutely incredibly. He had scrubbed and washed and polished himself to his spark's content - being especially vigorous when he had scoured the stubborn stains on his thighs, of course - and now he gleamed and shined like a shooting star. He felt amazing. It was like the whole situation with Thrust had never even happened!

Turning the corner, Starscream smirked smugly. Stupid Thrust. He was in  _so_ much trouble with Megatron now. Maybe he'll think twice next time he attempts to prank Starscream in such a cruel, callous manner!

Starscream entered the door code to his and his brother's quarters, not even mentally whining about how he had to room with his bizarre brothers even though he was Second in Command of the Decepticons. That was how much of a good mood he was in.

The door slid open, and Starscream walked right on in, not expecting anyone else to be there, since one brother was passed out and the other had patrol duty. Which was why he was a bit startled when he saw Thundercracker sitting on his berth, just staring vacantly at the wall.

"...Thundercracker?" hesitantly called out Starscream, raising an optical ridge. He had always wondered if hanging out with Skywarp too much caused mechs' processors to deteriorate...

Thundercracker snapped out of his daze and looked up. His empty expression suddenly melted into a soft, tender one. His optics were warmer than energon goodies left in the sun.

Starscream stared hypnotically.

"Starscream? You all right, sweetspark?" Thundercracker asked gently, slowly standing up from his berth.

Snapping out of his daze, Starscream shot him a puzzled, suspicious look. Thundercracker only called him sweetspark when something went wrong.

"Okay, what's the problem?" Starscream sighed, crossing his arms over his cockpit.

"I-I heard what happened," quietly admitted Thundercracker, averting his gaze toward the floor as he fidgeted nervously. "You know, what Thrust did..."

Starscream tensed. "Who told you that?" he asked sharply.

"Megatron. He dragged Thrust into the brig; he's going to be there for a whole orn."

Starscream smirked. But then he realized that he had to keep his façade up, especially around someone as wary as Thundercracker. Therefore, he mustered as much patheticness into one little whimper as he possibly could, and hugged himself insecurely, not daring to look his brother in the optics.

"Please don't talk about him," he rasped, wiping an optic sorrowfully. He lowered his wings pitifully. Primus, if he wasn't already a soldier and a scientist, Starscream would have became an actor. "I-It's painful..." he trailed off.

"Oh, Star. My poor, poor Star," cooed Thundercracker, spreading his arms out to embrace a reluctant, stiff Starscream. He tucked his chin over Starscream's head, cradling him as if he was as frail and delicate as glass. "Don't worry, sweetspark, everything will be all right."

Gradually, Starscream relaxed into Thundercracker's cozy, protective hold. Wow. Who knew that it actually felt so good to be hugged by your brother?

"C-Can you talk about what you're going to do to h-him?" Starscream sniveled, but then mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't have said something as stupid as that. It sounded rather suspicious, and Thundercracker was a suspicious mech, so of course he would get all skeptical-

"Of course. Anything you want, sweetspark," Thundercracker replied gently, grip slightly tightening around his brother's slim waist. "Well, first of all, I'm going to start by beating the slag out of him, and then..."

Starscream's optics flashed with wickedness, and a dangerous smile was placed on his lips.

His plan was going even better than expected.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so much for the comments, kudos, and bookmarks! I love you guys :)

Thrust felt like he was losing his processor.

It had only been a cycle into his wrongly sentenced imprisonment, but it was already the worst cycle of Thrust's life. Every klik passed on agonizingly slow, as if time decided to team up with Megatron in order to punish Thrust for having done  _absolutely nothing_ to Starscream. His wings were twitching continuously, aching to be liberated and to fly in the beautiful, free sky. His processor was a somehow detestably bored, yet frantically racing and busy, mess. It was strange. Thrust was bewildered by it, since he didn't know whether to furiously pace around the room or just sit around dully, doing nothing.

But there was one thing Thrust absolutely knew for sure. He hated, hated,  _hated_ being locked up in the brig.

It wasn't fair at all! He had done  _nothing_  to Starscream! Well, he had ogled Starscream's rather fine built and salaciously flirted with him in a rather inappropriate manner... However, that most definitely did NOT equate to rape! Not even by a long shot.

Thrust wanted to know who exactly was spreading these atrocious rumors around. The only mech he could really guess would be Starscream, whose emotions had been running rampant, not at all dictated by logic, and had most certainly not been in a favorable manner toward Thrust the other cycle. But, for once, he really hoped that he was wrong - for rather obvious reasons, of course.

However, the thing that  _really_ bothered Thrust was that Megatron said that he had 'supposedly' seen evidence of the attack. What the slag! What in the pit was he talking about? Did that mean that Starscream had actually been assaulted, just not by Thrust? Or that Megatron had just jumped to conclusions about something?

Thrust moaned loudly and dropped down onto the hard, very uncomfortable berth that he had to get acquainted with for a whole, stupid orn. He absolutely couldn't  _wait_ for that... _  
_

"Why, hello there," greeted a familiar voice, lathered with even more familiar contempt.

Thrust snapped his head up and leaped off the berth. "Starscream!" he yelled excitedly, optics wide. "Thank Primus you're here! Listen, I-I didn't-"

"Oh, do shut up," Starscream interrupted, his lips curling into a smug, disdainful smirk. He confidently cocked a cherry red hip out and placed a servo on it.

Thrust couldn't help himself. He stared, entranced by the smooth, delicious plating and the slim, white thigh attached to it. He wondered what that felt like to the touch...

"My optics are up here!" snapped Starscream, the smirk gone and instead replaced by a hateful scowl.

Cheek plates slightly flushing, Thrust immediately removed his gaze and nervously rubbed at his neck cables. Heh, maybe Megatron had actually meant optic-rape instead.

"As I was saying," began Starscream, back to being as unruffled and smooth as he had been earlier, "how are you enjoying your imprisonment? Isn't it just delightful?" he taunted.

"I didn't do it! Starscream, you know that I never did anything to you!"

"Liar!" hissed Starscream, red optics boiling with rage. "You were planning to do something absolutely hideous! You were about to pull an incredibly vicious, callous prank on me, and you know what? I caught on to it! You're just infuriated that I saw it and decided to rightfully punish you for it! How could you even dare  _think_ about doing something li-"

"SHUT UP!" exploded Thrust, suddenly bursting out restrained emotions that he hadn't even known had been repressed. So, it had been Starscream who made up the rumor... "Let me slagging explain something to you!

"Number one, I was NOT planning to prank you.  _At_ _all_. It never even crossed my processor! All I wanted to do was be nice and flirt with you and court you, okay? I genuinely liked you! I  _still_ like you, maybe I'm crazy and masochistic or something, because you obviously don't appreciate my affection. In fact, I'm pretty sure you  _hate_ me!

"Number two, even if I  _was_  going to prank you, that doesn't mean you lie and say that I raped you! Are you out of your slagging processor? Did you even see Megatron's reaction? I thought he was going to KILL me! Primus, if that's your idea of getting back at someone, you are one fragged up little glitch! No wonder no one else wanted to court you; you're such a bitch!"

The only noise heard was the sound of Thrust's vents whirling rapidly. Other than that, the room was absolutely silent. The tension was so thick and palpable that you could it with a knife.

Starscream averted his shocked, enlarged optics to the ground, stubbornly refusing to look up. When Thrust caught a glimpse of those pretty red optics glistening, he knew exactly why Starscream had turned away and hid from him.

Thrust felt something churn in his tanks, and he suddenly felt ill. Primus, it was unbelievable how slagging _stupid_  and  _cruel_ he could be. How could he have said something so utterly hideous to the mech he was trying to court and (possibly, maybe...) bond to?

"Starscream, I-" he began, sun-like optics remorseful and soft.

Starscream's head snapped up. He glared into those sun-like optics without being fazed nor hypnotized.

"You know what?" he hissed, taking his trembling fists and roughly wiping his optics with them. "I hope you learn to like the brig, because you'll be here FOREVER!" With that said, Starscream turned sharply and began running out, carefully hiding his face all the while.

"Wait, come back!" Thrust shouted, reaching a servo out as if that could stop the other.

When Thrust could no longer see the retreating back of the seeker he was (or had been, really; there was no way Starscream would accept him now) courting, he sighed and laid back down on the incredibly uncomfortable berth that he now completely deserved.

What had he done?

* * *

Skywarp was lazily resting on his soft berth, doing nothing except staring up at the ceiling uneventfully.

Patrol duty had been an absolute bore. Nothing had happened  _at_ _all._ Sometimes, Skywarp wondered why Megatron even had them waste their time by doing this; the Autobots seldom did anything worthy of high suspicion. Or, at least, as far as the Decepticons knew.

Currently, though, Skywarp didn't know what to do. He really wanted to sneak around and follow Thrust, in order to see how he was utterly failing at his courting. But Skywarp knew he wasn't exactly the stealthiest - nor the quietest, for that matter - mech around, so he would probably be caught pretty quickly. He supposed he could take another nap, except for the fact that he was nowhere near tired.

Ugh...what to do, what to do...

However, it seemed that Skywarp had nothing to worry about. Entertainment came in the form of Starscream suddenly bursting through the door. The seeker threw himself dramatically on his berth, covering his face, and arranged himself in a prone position.

_Tch. Drama queen,_ thought Skywarp, rolling his optics. He then grinned mischievously, optics twinkling with mirth. You know, it was always fun to harass Starscream...

"Hey, Screamer, why're you so upset? Did you finally find out about the pole stuck up your aft?" he taunted.

Starscream ignored him.

"Aw, look at the poor baby. Are you crying? Do you want me to call Mommy - or, in this case, TC?" Skywarp smirked, intently watching his brother for any hint of a reaction.

Silence.

Skywarp's smirk began to wither. Normally, Starscream would have been all over him by now, screeching furiously and attempting to slaughter him. What the slag?

"Oi!" called out Skywarp, quirking an optical ridge. "How come you ain't responding?"

Nothing.

Skywarp frowned. He gingerly stood up from his berth. "You okay, Star?" he asked, taking a few tentative steps forward.

No reply.

"Hey, you know I didn't mean that, right?" he questioned solicitously, concern flashing in his optics. When Skywarp reached the berth, he sat on it carefully and laid a calm servo on Starscream's wings (which, now that he realized, were slightly quivering), rubbing gently, soothingly. "I know I'm not TC or anyone, but you can talk-"

"Get out," came the muffled, hoarse reply.

"W-What?"

"Get. Out." Starscream's voice was quiet, yet held a distinct, underlying fury.

Skywarp's frown dropped down even further. "This is  _my_ room, too-"

Starscream suddenly lifted his head up and glared furiously at him, wearing a nasty, enraged scowl. Skywarp gaped stupidly, riveted by the trickles of tears on his brother's cheek plates. Starscream didn't cry. Or, at least, as far as he had known.

"Get out, Skywarp," Starscream commanded, clenching his servos tightly. When Skywarp just stayed there, frozen, Starscream pointed to the door and shouted vehemently, "Just GET OUT!"

Caught off guard by the yell, Skywarp stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. Starscream spat more abuse at him, ordering him to  _l_ _eave, leave, LEAVE!_ Skywarp immediately ran out of the room, optics wide and spark thumping frantically against its casing.

As he waited for his spark to slowly calm down, Skywarp bit his lip component and settled his audio receptors against the door.

What Skywarp heard made his spark twist painfully, guiltily. But the feeling didn't linger long, as he then felt an irrational, hot pulse of anger race through him, pounding viciously. He let the emotion consume him up to the point where he practically radiated burning, fervent fury.

Skywarp growled dangerously, his optics red slots of wrath, and he felt a strange prickling sensation at the bottom of his vortex of a spark. He ignored it as he stomped through the hallway, glaring suspiciously at everything and everyone.

Whoever was responsible for making his brother cry was  _dearly_  going to rue it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the short chapter! It's necessary for the plot to develop, although it doesn't contain much going on. To make up for it, the next chapter will probably be up in two days or so! :)

 

Thundercracker strolled quietly through the hallway, carrying two energon cubes in his servos - one for him and the other for Starscream, of course. He had to be really gentle and kind with his brother, seeing as how he needed it more now than ever after what had, ahem, happened. Therefore, Thundercracker thought that getting a cube for Starscream would be a good start.

However, his simple equation became much harder when he made a mistake in his calculations. He hadn't thought of adding Skywarp. And not just any Skywarp, but a furious, unstable Skywarp barging up to him right now and looking like he was ready to kill someone.

Thundercracker had always hated math, anyway.

"Was it you, TC? Was it you?" Skywarp spat at him like there was poison flooding his mouth.

Thundercracker gave him an utterly bewildered, baffled look. Just what in the pit was his brother referring to?

Warily eyeing the utter, intense wrath and rage clouding Skywarp's optics, Thundercracker answered, "What are you talking abou-?"

"So, it WAS you!" suddenly interrupted Skywarp, a triumphant gleam brightening his optics for a quick astrosecond, before reverting back to the dark, murky ire. "What the slag, Thundercracker! What's the matter with you, huh? Huh?" he yelled, rudely pointing a digit at his brother's cockpit.

Thundercracker stared. Skywarp didn't call him Thundercracker, only TC. What exactly was going on here?

"You like messing with your brothers, huh? What did you say to him? Tell me!" Skywarp shouted hotly. His optics were obscured with a furious, outraged haze so thick that Thundercracker wondered if Skywarp could even see.

"Warp, I don't think you're okay. How about we go back to our quarters, all right?" Thundercracker asked coolly. He subspaced one of the energon cubes and was about to do the same with the other, but Skywarp abruptly, with no warning whatsoever, punched him in the face.

Thundercracker reeled back more from the shock than anything else. The energon cube he was holding fell and spilled all over the floor.

"What the frag, Skywarp!" he boomed, glancing down at the empty cube briefly, and then glaring up at the other seeker. "What's your malfunction?" he exclaimed, clenching his servos.

" _My_ malfunction? What's  _your_ malfunction?" retorted Skywarp, growling lowly, dangerously. "At least I don't make my brother cry!"

" _What_  are you  _talking about_?" Thundercracker snarled. "If you mean brother as in Starscream, you can stop right slagging there! I have  _never_  made Starscream cry. NEVER! Unlike you, you hypocrite!  _You_  are the number one mech to make Starscream cry! He doesn't do it often, but if anyone's the cause of it, it's always your fault!"

Skywarp's optics flashed. " _Liar!_ " he hissed, wings twitching in aggravation. "Stop lying to me!"

"I. Don't. Lie," gritted out Thundercracker, optics narrowed.

Skywarp let out an irate howl and pounced. The duo fell on the ground in a snarling, furious tangle of limbs and appendages, rolling around like there was no tomorrow.

And so the fight began.

* * *

Starscream rubbed his optics harshly and sniffled for the last time. Then, he groaned and put his head in his servos.

Primus, he had made such a  _fool_ of himself. How could he have done something so stupid, to lose his emotions like that and just start to cry? And in front of stupid Thrust and even stupider Skywarp... Oh, he'll be the laughing stock of the vorn if ( _More like when_ , Starscream thought bitterly) word got out.

And he started crying over something so utterly idiotic! True, the whole being-taken-advantage-by-a-crush situation had been - still is, even - a touchy subject for him. And true, he hadn't expected Thrust to stoop down to such a level-

Wait a slagging minute! Starscream sat up on his berth, back rigid. Just how had Thrust known what had happened all those vorns ago? The only ones who knew were him, his brothers, and his bastard of a previous crush!

Starscream's optics narrowed and he scowled nastily. When he found out which one of them had told Thrust...!

Suddenly, the exasperation in Starscream deflated. He sighed and crossed his arms over his cockpit insecurely. Was Thrust telling the truth? Was that why no one liked him? Because...Because he was a-a bitch?

Well, he was pretty mean to his brothers, sometimes... And he tried to usurp and occasionally even attempt to kill Megatron on a regular basis... Plus, he kind of treated everyone on base like they were nothing... And maybe he shouldn't have lied to Megatron and told him that Thrust raped him...

Starscream gulped. Thrust was right; he  _was_  a bitch.

Something churned and bubbled in Starscream's tanks. He winced at the discomfort, having seldom felt this highly moronic, ridiculous emotion, and laid down on his back. He shifted again, grimacing, as the feeling spread throughout him and seized his spark.

Starscream tightly grasped the edge of the berth and shut off his optics. His spark twisted and contorted in turmoil, bewildered and panicked at the rare sensation.

A few kliks went by without pause from the emotion. Starscream let out a loud, vexed groan and stood up from his berth, onlining his optics.

He knew what he had to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Thrust was flying.

He glided and twirled and whirled gracefully in the yellow sky, watching the beautiful sun set in the horizon. The gentle breeze, no more than a wisp of a wind, flowed over his delicate, sleek wings. The only time he ever lost his elegant composure was when he trembled in utter ecstasy, unable to help himself.

If Thrust hadn't been in his alt-mode, he would've smiled. The only thing to make this paradise even better would be if-

"Hello, Thrust," a familiar voice greeted smoothly from behind.

Thrust almost fell out of the sky.

"S-Starscream!" he exclaimed, immediately reverting back to his other mode. "What are you doing here? N-Not that I don't want you here! Quite the opposite, actually, it's just that I thought you were upset at me? I mean, I kinda made you cry. Which I didn't mean to do! I let my temper-"

"Shh," hushed Starscream, placing a digit against Thrust's lip components. "It's okay. Everything is all right. I just want to tell you that I-" Before he could finish his sentence, a sudden blast of red energy hit him on the wing and instantly sent him spiraling to the ground.

"Starscream!" cried Thrust, his optics wide with horror. Without a moment to spare, he transformed into his alt-mode, ignited his thrusters, and followed after the other seeker at the speed of light.

"Help me, Thrust!" Starscream shrieked with desperation and panic tainting his voice. He was extremely close to becoming a splat on the ground, and Thrust kicked his speed up by a notch. "Thrust! Thrust! THRUST!"

Thrust screamed.

And then promptly woke up.

"Thrust!" came the sound of Megatron's loud voice directly beside his audio receptor. "GET UP!"

Thrust yelped and immediately sat up on the berth, clutching his audio receptors in pain. He moaned.

Megatron straightened up from his position beside Thrust and crossed his arms over his chassis.

"I was wondering if you'd ever wake up. I had to yell at you repeatedly for five kliks," he said accusingly, glaring at the seeker. "I almost decided to just leave."

"S-Sorry, Lord Megatron," apologized Thrust, rubbing his aching processor. "Um, not to be rude, but why are you here? Are you going to punish me some more?" he asked worriedly, optics wide. He dropped to the floor and put his servos together pleadingly. "Please, please, please don't punish me anymore! I've learned my lesson, I swear! Just please don't give me anymore punishments!"

Megatron rolled his optics. "I am not here to punish you, fool," he said, and then pointed to the open cell door. "You're free."

Thrust froze. "W-What?" he asked after a beat, bewildered.

"You are free," repeated Megatron slowly, as if speaking to a child. He then added, "Unless, of course, you actually enjoyed spending time in here..."

"N-No!" Thrust exclaimed instantly, jumping to his peds. "It's just that, how come? Why are you letting me go?"

Megatron sighed exasperatedly. "Starscream, strangely enough, admitted that he had been lying about the situation. So, I am letting you leave," he explained.

Thrust's jaw hung open. What? Starscream had told Megatron that he was innocent? What the slag? But Starscream had wanted him in here forever? Well, forever was really short in Starscream's opinion, apparently - not that he was complaining!

"Why?" burst out Thrust. Then, as a sudden realization came into thought, he gasped in horror. "Oh, Primus, is he okay? How badly was he beat this time?" he asked, concern flashing in his optics.

Megatron scowled and shot him an irritated look. "For punishment, I gave him two extra decacycles of monitor duty," he said through gritted dentae. "Why does everyone assume I beat Starscream for every little thing he does? Do all of you think I'm completely barbaric?"

Thrust shook his head rapidly. "No! Not at all!" he exclaimed nervously. "Thank you, Lord Megatron, for freeing me!" he praised, preparing himself to leap out of that extremely stupid, uncomfortable cell-

"Do not think you are completely out of the clear, however," growled Megatron, optics hard, and all the excitement Thrust had felt immediately dissipated.

Megatron continued, "I know Starscream extremely well, and I know that he only attacks mechs if he believes he has been wronged in some way. He does not just sporadically attack. Besides, it is extremely suspicious of him to suddenly own up to any act of his...very, very suspicious. I am wondering if you actually did assault him, but that you are blackmailing him to relieve yourself of punishment. This is the exact reason why I want you to stay far - and I really mean far - away from Starscream. The other Decepticons have been already informed of this, and if they see you around him, they are to report you immediately. I will then personally deal with your retribution. Understood?"

Thrust cringed just a bit, but nodded obediently.

How on Cybertron was he supposed to apologize and court Starscream now?

* * *

 

Starscream warily glanced around the corner. When he detected no presence in the hallway, he swiftly, quietly, moved forward.

It had been a few cycles since he had told Megatron the truth, and he had not yet spoke a word to Thrust. He had seen the seeker around, of course. That was unavoidable. However, on the few occasions when they had been alone, Thrust had always clutched his arm and tried to whisper something to him, but then either Starscream would run out of the room or another Decepticon would come by, and then Thrust would be forced to shut up.

Starscream always sighed in relief and thanked Primus for those interruptions. He was not ready to face Thrust. He'd never be ready to face Thrust. Never. All he wanted was for all of this to be put behind themselves, like it never even happened.

Why couldn't Thrust just accept that? No, he had to be ridiculous and keep persisting to talk to Starscream. That fool! Didn't he understand anything? Why could he never learn?

Starscream scowled. As he reached the beginning of the next corner, he saw a flash of purple and immediately spun back around, his scowl instead turning into a panicked frown.

Cautiously, Starscream peeked around the bend. He sighed in relief when he found out that the flash of purple was merely Rumble walking in the opposite direction. Thank Primus! He had thought that was his clingy brother.

Starscream grimaced. Lately, Skywarp was everywhere. Everywhere. He wasn't necessarily following Starscream, but he was just...always there. It was creepy, and it reminded Starscream of Thrust. Not to mention, Skywarp never said an unkind word to him anymore, instead shooting him gentle smiles and giving him soft touches.

...Which was strange because Starscream had no idea why he was being so nice. Skywarp wasn't even remotely aware of the whole Thrust situation; Starscream had made absolute sure to keep him in the dark about that. Plus, Skywarp refused to speak to Thundercracker, and vice versa. What the slag!

Starscream frowned. That was the most vexing part to him. His brothers were always chatting to each other, usually glued to each other's hip plating. Now, they could barely stand to be in the same room together! They even refused to tell Starscream what had occurred between them, despite all of his demanding and begging. Skywarp would just shrug him off and smile, and Thundercracker would tense and reassure him that it was nothing.

And speaking of Thundercracker, he had basically become a second shadow to Starscream. Ever since he had revealed that he had been lying about Thrust assaulting him, Thundercracker refused to believe him. He thought that Thrust was blackmailing him or something crazy like that; Starscream had no idea where he perceived that notion from. All he knew was that Thundercracker refused to leave him be. It was actually a miracle that Starscream was away from him right now! It was a good thing that following your brother into the wash racks would be considered extremely bizarre and perverted.

Peering around the corner, Starscream scanned the area and, detecting no presences, deemed it safe. He ran stealthily through the rest of the corridor and raced into the wash racks. Excellent. He had managed to make it undetected.

Quickly, Starscream entered the pass code for his own private wash rack (the only good thing about being Second in Command: he received his own sanitary wash rack, compared to the filthy public ones the rest of the army had to use). The door slid open, and he stepped in.

Starscream turned on the water and let it run, waiting for it to heat up. Being in no rush, he slowly unclasped his armor plating and laid it neatly to the side. Then, Starscream stepped underneath the stream of water, sighing in content as the warm liquid trickled down his body. It felt as if a load of weight had been lifted from his shoulders. His problems with Thrust and his brothers suddenly seemed so far away, like they could never touch him ever again...

Starscream offlined his optics and immersed himself in the water. He stood there for a few kliks in silence. Then, when he decided to actually begin cleaning and scrubbing himself, he onlined his optics.

And then screamed.

"THRUST!" shrieked Starscream furiously, optics wide and deeply embarrassed. The normal coloring of his cheek plates turned into a deep, fervent red. He hurriedly attempted to cover himself up to the best of his ability, yet tried to shove Thrust out of the room at the same time. "W-WHAT THE SLAG!"

"Starscream, please calm down," Thrust said, completely undisturbed. Aside from a lustful shiver, he barely even reacted as an unarmored Starscream's body accidentally made contact with his own, thankfully, armored one. "I have to tell you something."

"Tell me somewhere ELSE! ANYWHERE ELSE! JUST NOT HERE!" Starscream screeched. "GET OUT!"

Thrust's optics trailed up to (presumably...) look at his face, but Starscream wrapped his arms around himself more protectively and squealed indignantly, "Don't look, you pervert!"

Thrust's gaze immediately went down, and he chuckled nervously. "Sorry, but mech, you have a rocking-"

"If you finish that sentence, I will strangle you with my servos!" hissed Starscream, optics flashing dangerously. "Now, get the frag out of here!"

"But I don't have anywhere else to speak to you!" whined Thrust. "Every time I try to talk to you, someone passes by or you run away from me!"

"Maybe that's because I do NOT want to SPEAK WITH YOU!" snapped Starscream viciously. "And why on Cybertron would you slagging think that I would want to speak with you now, while I'm unarmored and sopping wet? Moron!"

"Well, if I was unarmored and sopping wet, I wouldn't mind it if you wanted to speak with me..." Thrust muttered bitterly.

"What was that?" gritted out Starscream.

"Nothing!" Thrust exclaimed immediately. His yellow optics, ignoring the rest of the other seeker's body, looked up meaningfully, sincerely, into Starscream's optics.

"Listen, Starscream," he began gently, "I just wanted to say that I'm-I'm sorry for what I said earlier. You're not a bitch. You're beautiful and amazing and intelligent and just wow, I'm sorry, because you are so incredible that those words don't do you any justice at all. There are no words to describe how absolutely perfect and precious you are. Whoever takes advantage of you, or refuses to court you, is the biggest slagging dumbaft to ever live, because only a complete idiot would turn down such a rare jewel like you."

Starscream's jaw hung open and he stared, just simply stared, into Thrust's sun-like optics. His spark swelled and ached with something that he had not felt in vorns. He was quiet for a long time.

"Get out," he said softly.

Thrust gaped. "W-What?"

"Get out," repeated Starscream, optics gleaming with something akin to gentleness. "How else am I supposed to go outside and fly with you?"

"R-Really?" Thrust inquired nervously, sun-like optics brightening with pure excitement.

Starscream nodded. "You go ahead and fly out now, while I finish my shower, so it doesn't look suspicious. I will see you later."

"Thank you. Thank you so much for giving me a chance!" exclaimed Thrust. "You won't regret it, I promise!" He stumbled out of the room, and through the closed door, Starscream heard him let out a whoop of joy.

Starscream hoped he didn't just agree to the worst thing he'd ever done in his life.


	9. Chapter 9

Skywarp sighed as he idly walked throughout the base, shoulders slumped and optics downcast. It should be a crime to ever feel as bored and tired as Skywarp felt at that moment.

But it wasn't like Skywarp could do much; Starscream had told him, "If you dare interrupt my cleansing time, I will personally shove your head up your aft!" And Skywarp definitely didn't want his head up his aft - no, thank you! He also couldn't hang out with Thundercracker. They were in a giant dispute, after all; in fact, the biggest fight that they had ever been in. He couldn't just exactly go up to his brother and pretend like nothing had ever happened. Even if Skywarp now realized that he had been in a half-crazed, half-furious haze, he had too much pride to apologize and just slink back to Thundercracker's side.

Therefore, Skywarp decided to take a walk. Maybe he'd see a brawl break loose or find another ample opportunity to pull a prank. Something interesting like that.

As Skywarp sighed for approximately the billionth time that cycle, he heard a sudden rush of peds sprinting behind him. He looked back excitedly, hoping that it was something that could entertain, and saw a red blur speeding toward him. Skywarp narrowed his optics; that red blur looked awfully familiar...

"Thrust?" was the only thing he managed to say before he found himself lying on the ground.

"Thank you so much, Skywarp!" exclaimed Thrust giddily, optics bright and cheerful and  _why was Thrust so fragging happy?_  "Primus, I can't tell you how thankful I am for you! In fact, I'm pretty sure I love you!" he declared, and then gave Skywarp a big, sloppy smooch on the lips.

Skywarp's optics widened in horror and he immediately shoved Thrust off him. He stood up and hurriedly tried to wipe his lip components, taking his servo and scrubbing his glossa with it.

"What the slag! Do you  _want_ to offline me?" spat Skywarp, shivering in utter disgust. He had never felt so disturbed and violated in his lifetime.

"I'm just really excited!" Thrust exclaimed, bouncing on his thruster heels like a youngling who had too many energon goodies. "Thank you for the advice. It worked  _amazingly_!"

Skywarp's jaw hung open and he stared at Thrust for a few moments.  _What the-?_

"I-I mean, awesome!" replied Skywarp cheerfully, his smile so tight and fake that it looked more like a grimace than anything else. His optics were still wide and baffled. "H-Hey, Thrust, if you don't mind me asking, but, uh, who exactly did you use your advice on?" he asked, tone dripping in sugary sweetness.

"Starscream!" was the gleeful reply.

"S-Starscream? M-My  _brother_ , Starscream?" choked out Skywarp, red optics wide with terror. He felt something inside him snap with an audible crack before dying and withering away.

"Yes!" Thrust's grin stretched so wide that it looked like his face was going to split into two. "And Primus, I can't tell you how grateful I am for your advice! Like, who would've known that just actually walking in on a seeker in the shower was the best thing to do? See, I wouldn't have known that if you hadn't told me!"

Skywarp gaped. His left optic twitched. "Y-You  _saw_  S-Starscream UNARMORED?"

"Yep!" Thrust responded cheerily. "I hope you don't mind, though - I mean, he is your brother, after all. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Plus, heh, I wouldn't mind being desperate like that again, you know what I mean? I mean,  _wow_ , Starscream is  _hot_ -" Thrust finally noticed how Skywarp was gawking at him. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck cables. "Oh, right, brothers. Sorry."

Skywarp did nothing except gape. He was too horrified to feel angry.

Thrust frowned and stared at him in confusion, but then his expression suddenly lightened up. "Oh, mech, I gotta beat it outta here. Starscream and I got a date planned out, so I have to leave now. I'll tell you later how great it goes!" Thrust smirked at him and then began running out, whooping loudly and enthusiastically.

Date. Thrust was going on a date. With Starscream. His little brother. Who Thrust had apparently seen unarmored. And who was going to be the subject of purposely awful, hideous advice. Which Skywarp had given to Thrust. And Skywarp had told Thrust even  _worse_ things to do on the date.

An alarm flashed and rang throughout Skywarp's head. He suddenly sprang into action.

"WAIT, THRUST, COME BACK!" he shouted as loudly as his vocalizer could go. But it was already too late; Thrust was far out of the hallway and getting closer to his date destination every astrosecond.

_Slag_.

What was Skywarp supposed to do now?

* * *

Starscream frowned and let out an exasperated sigh as he ignored yet  _another_ ping from Skywarp on his comm. link. Primus, his brother could be so  _irritating_!

Starscream rolled his optics and continued neatly polishing himself, fully intending and endeavoring to ignore Skywarp's frantic attempts at communication. Skywarp couldn't possibly go on for  _that_ long; he didn't have enough determination nor resolution to do so.

However, as the twentieth ping from Skywarp rang, Starscream soon realized that he was completely and utterly wrong about his brother.

_/Leave me_ alone _, Skywarp!/_ came Starscream's fiercely furious, wrathful reply.

_/Star, listen to me, you can't-/_  Skywarp began nervously, hastily.

_/Just shut up! I've had enough of you this cycle. I'm doing something incredibly imperative right now, Skywarp, and if you continue to bother me, I'll rip your wings off and shove them up your thrusters!/_ Starscream immediately closed his link to his brother after that. He didn't receive any further notifications from Skywarp.

_Thank Primus,_ thought Starscream, sighing in relief.  _Who knew Skywarp could be so tenacious?_

Starscream then frowned. He hadn't known that Skywarp could be so persistent at all. How much else did he not know about Skywarp? Or Thundercracker, for that matter?

Starscream's frown deepened even further, and he glared at the ground. He was a terrible brother.

After a few moments, Starscream shook his head, dispelling and scattering his thoughts. He couldn't think about this right now. He had to gloss and burnish and purify himself until every inch of him shone with a brilliant, resplendent luster.

He had to look absolutely  _perfect_.


	10. Chapter 10

Thundercracker was having a rather fine afternoon.

He kept a wary optic on Starscream - because, Primus dammit, Thundercracker would rather offline himself than let something else happen to his little brother - until Starscream decided to go into the wash racks. Which Thundercracker obviously could not do, unless he wanted to be known as the incestuous pervert around base.

So, Thundercracker instead decided to relax in his quarters. He leisurely sipped a mid-grade cube, and he read from a data-pad.

That was before Skywarp, without any warning whatsoever, came barging in and ruined it all, of course.

"TC!" Skywarp yelled at the top of his vocalizer, despite being in the  _same fragging room._  "You gotta help me, mech! I'm sorry about the whole fight thing, really, I am! So, help me!"

Thundercracker winced at the loudness of Skywarp's voice before frowning. "What do you want, Skywarp? Can't you see I'm busy?" he asked exasperatedly, shooting the other seeker an icy glare. He gestured to the data-pad he held in his servos.

Skywarp opened his mouth, but then shut it when he noticed the data-pad. His optics grew large.

"W-Why are you reading a data-pad called  _How to Console Victims of Assault_?" Skywarp demanded shakily.

Thundercracker's glare grew even more frigid. "Why do you  _think_?" he spat out. "Couldn't do anything with our brother, could it?"

"I'm sorry!" Skywarp howled. He threw himself on his knees and wriggled over to a baffled Thundercracker, servos clasped together. "I don't know how you found out, but I'm sorry! I didn't know he would use the advice on Star, I swear; I thought he would use it on Ramjet or Dirge! I'm sorry, TC, I'm so sorry!"

"...What?" came Thundercracker's puzzled reply. He raised an optical ridge. Skywarp had officially gone off the deep end.

"Don't act dumb! You know  _exactly_ what I'm talking about. Don't make me say it all aloud!" whined Skywarp.

Thundercracker stared.

Skywarp let out a high-pitched moan. "Fine, make me suffer!" he huffed. "Okay, since Thrust came up to me for courtship advice, I thought it would be funny to give him really bad advice. I didn't know he would use it on Starscream, I  _swear_!"

"You what?" bellowed Thundercracker, standing up from his berth in less than an astrosecond. His servos balled into tight fists as he stomped over to Skywarp, who began backtracking furiously.

"I-I - you didn't know?" asked Skywarp weakly, fiddling with his digits.

"No, I didn't," hissed Thundercracker. "And you're going to tell me  _all about it_."

Without hesitation, Skywarp blabbed out the whole tale in a span of two kliks.

"So, what you're telling me," Thundercracker began slowly, right optic twitching, "is that it's  _your_ fault Star's been harassed and raped!"

"What?  _Been_? I-It already happened?" Skywarp gaped, optics drowning in horror and guilt. "B-But I didn't tell Thrust to do that before the date!"

Thundercracker froze.

"You...you told _-_ slagging TOLD - Thrust to  _rape_ our little brother?" he spat, his spark palpitating violently. Thundercracker's processor pounded so harshly, becoming so over-heated and over-worked, that he wouldn't be surprised if his head started smoking.

"I DIDN'T KNOW!" screamed Skywarp defensively. He then burst into sudden tears. "Oh, Primus, I didn't know! I'm sorry!  _I'm so sorry_!"

Thundercracker's expression softened a bit. When he realized it, he hastily hardened his mien, although he looked more austere than wrathful.

"Skywarp, you have to fix this," he upbraided. "Crying about it won't solve anything."

At that exact moment, Skywarp let out such a hysteric sob that Thundercracker momentarily thought about taking him to the Med Bay.

"B-But I need help! Thrust said that he and Star - oh, Star, my poor Star - were going out on a-a date right now!" Skywarp managed to gasp out.

" _What_?" Thundercracker spat, rage once more frothing and bubbling to the surface. "You didn't tell me that!"

"I was going to!" Skywarp whined, but then he looked up at his brother desperately. Tears continued to brim in his optics. "Please, TC, you gotta help me. I don't know what to do know! I told Thrust really bad things to do on the date!"

Thundercracker forced himself to stay quiet for a few kliks. He didn't want to say or do something that he would immensely regret at one point.

"...Fine," he conceded. "I'll help you. But don't  _ever_  do anything like that  _ever_ again! Starscream is my brother, too, and I won't stand for you doing things like that to him. Got it?"

Skywarp nodded, optics wide with honesty. He sniffled.

Thundercracker sighed and continued, "All right, this is probably what we should do..."

* * *

Starscream let out a sigh of relief. He managed to have left the base without being stopped or questioned. Thank Primus for miracles.

_/Thrust_ ,  _I have successfully departed and I am currently on the way. Send me your coordinates./_ He sent to Thrust over his comm. link.

Starscream rolled his optics, but smirked slightly, when he first received an excited whoop from Thrust. A few moments after that, he obtained the set of coordinates.

_/I will be there shortly./_ he sent back in response, transforming into his alt-mode.

Starscream was more than right. Since he was just about the fastest thing with two pairs of wings (and maybe, possibly, because the destination was not by any means far away), he arrived within a few kliks. He spotted Thrust enthusiastically waving at him from below on the ground, and Starscream decided to show off a little.

He shifted directions and, without slowing down, began to spiral downward. Just as he was about to introduce himself to the ground, Starscream shifted his nose-cone upward and turned suddenly. At a sharp, continuous angle, he then zoomed over Thrust, narrowly missing his head. Starscream heard a shriek from the other seeker, and, had he been able to, he would've smirked.

To finish off his little performance, Starscream looped once in the air, twirling as he did so, and then transformed into his base mode. His peds landed gracefully on the ground, creating a soft thud on the sand. He then put his servos on his hips and smirked smugly.

Thrust raced over to him immediately. "Primus, that was so cool! I mean, I know you're amazing at flying, but  _whoa_! You gotta teach me how to do that - please?" he begged, sun-like optics bright and pleading.

Starscream's smirk grew prouder. He might just keep Thrust around so he could have someone inflate his own ego for him.

"Of course. I'll teach it to you during training one cycle," he replied coolly.

"Eventually, I bet I'll be better at it than you," boasted Thrust, winking. "You're gonna have some tough competition."

Starscream scoffed. "Tough competition? I don't see any competition, much less a tough one," he teased. "Besides, I'm the fastest thing to ever have been built. You can't beat that."

Thrust pouted, but then he smirked slyly. "Oh yeah? I bet I can beat you to that cliff over there." He pointed at the destination, which was a good distance away. It was barely visible to the optic.

Starscream raised an optical ridge. "Prepare to lose," he said, but when he looked over beside him where Thrust had been, no one was there. He whipped his head around and saw Thrust speeding away. "Cheater!" he shrieked, transforming and blasting away.

When Starscream reached the cliff, Thrust was already there, servos planted on his hips and looking quite the pompous braggart that he was.

"What took you so long?" Thrust asked, optics gleaming mischievously. "I thought you were 'the fastest thing to ever have been built.'"

"You cheated!" shouted Starscream, pointing an accusing digit at him. "I would have won, if you hadn't have  _cheated_. That just tells me that you knew you were going to lose if it had been fair."

Thrust gaped like a fish. Starscream stifled a giggle and mentally noted to tease Thrust more often.

"It's not  _my_ fault that you're too slow to catch up!"

"Oh, really? Let's race back to where we started then, shall we?" said Starscream. He then suddenly tensed and turned around. He gasped dramatically. "Autobots!" he yelled, pointing a digit.

Thrust whipped around immediately. "Where?" he demanded, looking around for their enemies.

But Starscream was up in the air, transformed and headed toward their racing destination.

That time, when Thrust finally reached their destination, Starscream was already there, wearing a wry smirk. He yawned.

"What took you so long, Thrust?" he asked innocently.

"You-You tricked me! Cheater!"

"Now, how does it feel like to be on the opposite spectrum?" inquired Starscream, lifting an optical ridge. He cocked a cherry red hip out and crossed his arms over his cockpit.

Thrust said nothing and stared at his hip.

_Oh, Primus,_ thought Starscream.  _Does he ever_ not  _have interface on his processor?_

"Let's fly," said Starscream, snapping Thrust's attention from his hips and to his optics instead. "But let's just go leisurely, this time. No racing - just a nice, simple flight."

Thrust nodded. "I'm down with that." He transformed into his alt-mode and hovered over the ground, waiting.

"You're using human expressions now?" Starscream rolled his optics before transforming. He flew up slowly, trying to keep the same pace as Thrust.

"Hey, there ain't nothing wrong with using human expressions. Well, some of them. A lot of them are just plain weird."

"I think  _all_ of them are 'just plain weird'."

"Hmm, that's funny," said Thrust.

Starscream could practically hear the frown in Thrust's voice. "What's funny?" he asked.

"You would think something weird would like other weird things. Guess I was proven wrong," Thrust teased, gently rubbing his wing over Starscream's wing in a quick apology.

Starscream grumbled, but otherwise said nothing.

For a considerably long amount of time, the two traveled in silence, just merely enjoying each other's company. Occasionally, they would accidentally-on-purpose bump into each other softly or just lightly graze one another.

Starscream had never had such an enjoyable, yet so simple, moment in his whole life.

Another few kliks in silence passed before Thrust broke it and said, "Hey, do you want to go land over there by that boulder?"

"Fine," Starscream responded, and they both flew down, transforming at roughly about the same time.

"So, why did you desire to come down here?" questioned Starscream, crossing his arms over his cockpit, when he landed on the ground.

Thrust shrugged. "I thought that we could just talk to each other or something like that." He sat down, back leaning against the boulder, and gestured for Starscream to come sit beside him.

Starscream did so, albeit a bit reluctantly. "Hmm," he hummed in thought for a few moments. "I have a question."

Thrust nodded, signaling for him to go on.

"So, how  _did_ you manage to follow me around all the time?" Starscream asked suspiciously, narrowing his optics at the red seeker. "And how in all of Cybertron did you get into my locked wash rack?"

Thrust chuckled nervously. He rubbed the back of his neck cables sheepishly. "Oh, well, for the first one, I would just watch the monitor screens to see where you were headed. I'm assigned to watch over them kinda a lot, actually. Especially now..."

It was Starscream's turn to laugh nervously. "Yes, about that... I shouldn't have ever lied and accused you of raping me. Truly, Thrust, I-I - I am sorry." Apologizing tasted strange on Starscream's glossa. He had never really done it before.

Thrust smiled softly, and Starscream was surprised when he felt a warm servo slide into his own.

"It's all right, Starscream," said Thrust, and Starscream gaped slightly; he liked the way Thrust said his designation. "I've done things I'm not proud of. Everyone has."

Starscream nodded absentmindedly. For a few kliks, they were silent, just staring into each other's optics.

Then, Starscream felt a prickle of self-consciousness make its way up to his processor. He suddenly felt awkward, and his blue servo grew hot in Thrust's servo. He averted his gaze rather shyly, and slipped his servo out of Thrust's grasp.

"So, um, how about you getting into my wash rack?" Starscream asked stiffly, a tint of nervousness leaking into his tone. He pretended it was his vocalizer's fault, so he cleared it. "How did you manage to do that one?" he said with more dignity.

"Oh, that." Was it Starscream, or did Thrust sound a little disappointed?

"I, uh, sneaked up on you and watched you enter your pass code," Thrust admitted honestly. "D-Do you want me to erase the pass code from my memory banks?" he added.

Starscream waved a dismissive servo. "No," he said, and then he smirked rather lewdly, his optics suddenly warm. "Besides, who knows? At one point, it might possibly be very, ah,  _useful_  to you..."

Starscream was mortified. Oh, Primus, did he just say that aloud?

Thrust raised his optical ridges, his optics growing wide in surprise, before they narrowed slightly. His sun-like optics were dark with lust, and he revved his engine suggestively.

"You know what? I think you might just be right," Thrust responded, and he raked his optics up and down Starscream's body.

The mortification left Starscream when he shivered. "I'm always right," he said confidently. He cupped the other seeker's cheek plate and leaned in closely, feeling Thrust's warmth as his servos tightly gripped Starscream's slim waist.

Starscream offlined his optics and he leaned in even closer, spark pulsing and twirling and doing back flips in its chamber. He waited for the moment when his lips would meet Thrust's...

"Hey, get off my little brother!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry this took so long! This was supposed to be out days ago. Forgive me! ;_;

"Skywarp?" were the only words Starscream managed to squeal out before Skywarp pounced.

Skywarp, his optics scarlet with wrath and his cheek plates even redder, ran up to the pair and seized a hold on Thrust by his wing, digits digging painfully into the expanse. He hauled the bewildered, yelping seeker up and, without a word, began dragging him behind the boulder.

"What the FRAG do you think you're doing?" shrieked Starscream, standing up from his position in less than an astrosecond. "Are you out of your processor?"

"Starscream, please calm down," said Thundercracker from behind.

Starscream whipped his head around, blazing optics aimed and ready to shoot at any moment.

"Thundercracker, Skywarp," he hissed, "why are you two here?  _Why_ can't you ever just leave me alone?"

"Star-" Thundercracker began, but Skywarp suddenly cut him off.

"You need to be protected, so just be grateful that we're here. So, just sit there, be quiet, and look pretty. Now, I'm going to have a meaningful talk with my buddy, Thrust," said Skywarp, lip components stretched tightly. He gave Thrust a subtle, harsh pinch on the wing.

Starscream's face turned an unique shade of violent red.

" _I'll kill y-"_ he screeched, wings hiked up high in the air. He tensed, ready to lunge, but Thundercracker gripped him around the waist and held him back. "Get OFF me!" Starscream shouted, struggling and wrestling fiercely.

"Hey!" yelled Thrust angrily, attempting to shrug Skywarp off. "Don't do that to-" He suddenly stopped and let out a whimper when he felt Skywarp dig his digits into both wings. Seized by the wings, Thrust was helplessly dragged behind the boulder.

"Ow!" shouted Thrust, glowering as he wriggled in the other seeker's clutch. "What the slag are you doing? You're ruining everything!"

"Thrust, you stupid son of a glitch," hissed Skywarp lowly. His digits deepened even further, unforgiving, and Thrust moaned in pain. "How dare you? You have the slagging  _nerve_ to bring my brother on a 'date', which you probably forced him to do, you start touching him - I saw your servos wandering downwards, you pervert - and this is all after you  _raped_ him. You sick bas-"

"I never raped him!" Thrust exclaimed, right optic twitching violently. "Star lied about the whole thing! He  _apologized_ to me, even!"

Skywarp stared at him in confusion for a brief moment before his optics flashed dangerously. He scoffed. "Starscream never apologizes! Now, I  _know_ you're lying-"

"I'M NOT LYING!" interrupted Thrust, gnashing his dentae. His optics were so irate that, instead of his much more composed, lovely yellow, they were steaming-hot white. "If you're so sure that I'm lying, then why don't you ask Starscream?"

"Fine," Skywarp growled, before dragging Thrust - still by the wings, of course - back to his wrestling brothers. "Oi, Star!" he called out tactlessly. "Did Thrust rape you?" Skywarp glared and pointed at the seeker beside him.

"NO!" shrieked Starscream, squirming. Finally, he was able to release one of his arms from the tight grip, and so he elbowed Thundercracker in the face. Thundercracker's hold slackened considerably, and Starscream leaped out of his arms with ease.

"Thrust  _never_  raped me!" he continued to scream as he furiously barged up to a gaping Skywarp, who let go of Thrust more out of shock than anything else. When Starscream reached his brother, he stabbed him in the chassis with a harsh digit. "Therefore, you can leave both him and me alone, you obsessive fool!" he snarled.

"I  _told_ you!" boasted Thrust, smirking smugly. "I slagging told you, but you didn't wanna listen to me!"

"Huh?" Skywarp's optics dimmed in bewilderment as he turned to Thrust. "You mean, you didn't do it already?"

Starscream's optics flashed. "What do you mean, ' _already'_ -"

"Don't listen to him, Warp!" suddenly burst out Thundercracker, running up to the trio of seekers. "Thrust is obviously blackmailing him. I mean, you should've  _seen_ Star after the act. You can't fake emotions like that."

Starscream crossed his arms over his cockpit and then cleared his vocalizer. "Thundercracker," he began, "I am glad to know that my acting skills are superb."

Thundercracker let that sink in for a moment. His optics widened. "Y-You mean to tell me that you  _lied-"_

"I've only been trying to tell you that for a vorn!" hissed Starscream, placing his servos on his hips. He tilted his head around and gave Thrust a look that positively screamed, 'you see what I have to deal with?'.

Thrust replied, of course, by winking.

"Starscream," said Thundercracker stiffly, grabbing his brother by the arm and spinning him back around. He held Starscream's scowling face by the chin, looked into his optics sternly, and continued, "Don't lie to me about something so slagging serious again. What if you - I swear to Primus, this better  _never_  fragging happen - actually get raped next time? No one would believe you. Get it?"

Starscream snarled and shoved Thundercracker's servos away. "Calm down! It wasn't  _that_ serious. Besides,  _I'm_ the trine-leader;  _I_  call the shots!" he bragged.

"You and I and Thrust and Skywarp and every seeker to ever fragging exist know that the trine-leader only is in command during battle. The eldest of the trine, however, is in charge of his trinemates. Whatever the eldest says, goes," replied Thundercracker, grinding his dentae and clenching his servos.

As Starscream opened his big mouth, Skywarp gulped nervously. He took that as his cue to lug Thrust back behind the boulder.

"What do you want now? We already established that I didn't assault Star!" hissed Thrust impatiently, pushing Skywarp away from him.

"I know, and I'm kinda sorry about that and whatever," Skywarp responded, waving a servo dismissively in the air. "But, you know that one rule I gave you about 'facing?"

"Which one? If he gives chase, you gotta 'face? Or if he says no, don't let him go?" asked Thrust.

"Err...both of them," answered Skywarp hesitantly.  _How many rules did I give him and how did he remember it all?_ "Yeah, I changed my mind about those two. Don't do them, m'kay?" His advice was still worth salvaging; he just had to revamp some of the rules...

Thrust lifted an optical ridge. "Was that all you wanted to tell me? Asides from the 'How dare you touch my brother, I'll kill you' thing?" he questioned skeptically.

"Yep, that's it," Skywarp said. He then paused thoughtfully for a brief moment and added, "By the way, if you ever see my brother unarmored again, I'll rip your spike off. Also, servos above the waist or I'll blast 'em off. You interface, you die."

Thrust chuckled nervously and briefly glanced to the left. "Hehe. I actually thought you'd be more outraged, to be honest. Like telling me to stay away from Starscream or you'd rip me apart or something like that."

"Hey, I'm not  _that_ obsessed or protective of my brother," Skywarp said, cautiously hiding his devious smirk. He punched Thrust a bit too roughly on the arm. "'Sides, compared to TC, it looks like I don't even care about Star. I'd worry about TC a lot more, if I were you. He's  _real_ traditional. I mean,  _really, really_ traditional. You have to follow every rule I gave you asides from the ones I just got rid of, or else you're gonna ruin it." Skywarp concealed the dangerous gleam lurking in his optics.

"Oh, okay. Thanks, Skywarp," Thrust said easily, the side of his mouth quirking upwards slightly.

_Motherslagger, this is too fragging easy,_ Skywarp thought giddily, even as the sounds of Thundercracker and Starscream yelling at each other became more vociferous.  _Is Thrust_ this  _gullible? I mean, come on. This is the second time he's fallen for it. What a doofus!_

Skywarp was shook out of his thoughts when Thrust tapped him lightly on the shoulder vent.

"It's getting pretty intense with your brothers over there. Maybe we should try to stop them from yelling at each other...?" asked Thrust, nervously fiddling with his digits.

"Oh, yeah. Good idea," said Skywarp absentmindedly, beginning to walk out.

" _I hate you_!" Starscream's screeching was the first thing that Skywarp and Thrust were greeted back with.

"You  **hate**  me, huh?" boomed Thundercracker, dangerously looming over his brother. His left arm twitched violently. "You know what I say to that? No flying, excluding missions.  _For two decacyles_."

All the seekers minus Thundercracker gasped.

"That's unfair!" squawked Starscream, gaping at his brother in complete horror. "You're not my creator, Thundercracker! Leave me the slag alone!"

"I may not be your creator, but I  **am** your brother and I  **am** the eldest of the trine. That means I can punish you like a creator, which means I can punish you however I want. If I say you can't fly for two decacyles, then that's that!"

"Stop it! You can't control me!" shrieked Starscream, optics two slits of scarlet wrath. He clenched his servos tightly by his sides and trembled in rage.

"Starscream, you're being particularly bratty and irritating today. I'll give you a good spanking if you don't stop," threatened Thundercracker, raising an optical ridge.

Skywarp almost -  _almost_ \- burst out laughing. This was too fragging good to be true!

Starscream's jaw dropped to the ground. His cheek plates turned an exotic shade of crimson.

"You can't do that to me! I am  _not_  a youngling anymore. I am your superior officer, and you cannot command me to do anything. In fact, I order you to stop this nonsense right now or I'll send you to the brig!" he demanded.

"I. Don't. Care," Thundercracker spoke through gritted dentae. "If you act like a youngling, then I'll treat you like a youngling." He then turned to Skywarp, completely ignoring Starscream's indignant shrieks of fury, and said, "Teleport us back to base."

Before Starscream could even let out another howl, Skywarp grabbed his brothers' servos and promptly vanished away.

* * *

For a few more kliks, Thrust stood there in baffled silence. Then, he merely shook his head, lip components twitching upwards.

Did that really just happen?


	12. A/N

Hey guys, this isn't going to be an actual chapter, just an Author's Note to tell you what's up.

You're probably thinking right now, "This bitch, I thought there was a new chapter!" And I'm so, so, soooooo sorry about the incredibly long delay for the next chapter. However, my schedule has been extremely busy lately, and I do not have much time for updating. It was a miracle I even found time to upload this Author's Note!

Some of you might be thinking that I'm giving up this story, but don't worry! I am  _definitely not_. This week and next week I have lots of testing going on, and June 3rd-5th I'm going to Washington D.C., where I won't have the luxury of WiFi and a laptop.

So, expect an update either late this month or early the next month. I will delete this A/N next time I update, so don't be confused when you still see the same amount of chapters. Also, if there are any questions you need to ask or anything, a good place to be would be my fanfiction site: aly208fanfiction . tumblr . com (remove the spaces). I can answer usually within a span of 24 hours, and you can receive a direct, prompt response! 

I apologize for this inconvenience, and if you are still sticking with this story, I cannot express my gratitude enough to you. You are a truly awesome, incredibly kind reader.  _Thank you so much._

-Aly208

P.S. I am really, really, really, really,  _really_ sorry. Once again, thank you :)

P.P.S. Also, I have been daydreaming a lot more than usual and came up with an idea for another fic. However, I've barely touched it writing-wise, so if anyone wants to get in contact with me about it and possibly help...? It's a very, _very_ dark and triggering idea, so please stay away if that doesn't suit you. I would sincerely appreciate the effort, though c:


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